Wakenaam residents grapple with spring tide aftermath.

Oct 03, 2019 News

Hundreds of residents living on the island of Wakenaam, Essequibo River, are still dealing with the aftermath of last Sunday’s spring tide.

The seawall that was constructed a week prior to the high tides

A resident pointing out the depth at which the water rose

One of the seawalls that the tide rode over

A resident pressure washing the bottom flat of her home

Some time around 16:00 hrs last Sunday afternoon, water from the Essequibo River flowed over the island’s sea defence, affecting multiple communities. This publication also understands that residents living in the Good Success community were mostly affected by water as deep as five feet in places.
Residents, yesterday, said that the community seawall is outdated, and is incapable of putting up any proper defence against the river. Residents also pointed out that about a week prior to the spring tides, works were done on the wall; it was raised by an additional two feet.
“The engineer did come and they put up an extra piece on the wall after we get warning about the spring tide. Plus they put up sand bags. But Sunday afternoon, the work look thin when the water just rush over. Within just thirty minutes, water just ride over the wall and flood the whole neighbourhood like if it didn’t even had a wall,” said one resident.
Information reaching Kaieteur News also suggests that persons suffered tremendous losses since the bottom flats to most homes were flooded knee-deep water. A 55-year-old woman living in one household said that she almost suffered a heart attack when she saw the water rushing over the river defence.
“I been living here for 35 years; I’m 55 years old and this is the first time I experience something like this. When I see the water coming in, I rush to go try move the fridge. I rush come back, I just panic and freeze.”
Reflecting on her losses she said, “So far, we got four amplifiers damaged, the entire downstairs was under water so the small appliances and utensils in the cupboard damage. The car was downstairs and the water raise and reach inside the car.”
The small island of Wakenaam has a population of some 3,000 residents, and is heavily dependent on agriculture. Residents believe that the Government needs to execute an emergency plan and have a number of key river defences around the island upgraded ahead of the next spring tide, which they fear may be even more severe.
The NDC Chairman said that most of the island’s sea defence was constructed during the Dutch administration. The Chairman also pointed out that the San Souci area was not affected by spring tides, since works on the seawall were recently completed by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure.

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